Anyone else read this?

And what did you think of it...

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/08/12/why-migraines-strike.aspx

Well perhaps not precisely this exact article by dr Mercola, but yes I knew about that.
This very article is from 2008, btw.

That the root of M might be in the brain stem yes, this is most plausible to me. And that M is a disorder of central nervous system, also kinda well known fact.

There was a rush of 'neurological' info with the invention of MRI, CAT scan, PET scan and the like technology.
It really helped to dispel the myth of M being psychological/psychosomatic disorder once and for all.
Only the undereducated and antiquated doctors/scientists still believe this crapola today.

Unfortunately the research is not enough to offer the cure... sigh.

Risa

If only Risa.
I hadnt seen it before, thanks for commenting.

It's right that Migraine is no longer considered a vascular headache. However, much of the rest of it is not what's being researched and discussed among Migraine experts and researchers. The brain stem is being looked at, along with other parts of the brain, but it's more likely that the areas involved in the beginnings of a Migraine attack are the trigeminal nerve, spinal trigeminal nucleus caudilis, and the thalamus.

This comes from major hitters in Migraine research including Burstein, Bigal, Ramadan, and Goadsby.

Truthfully, I've never been very impressed with Mercola. I hope I don't offend anyone, but he strikes me as "a jack of all trades, but master of none." He's all of the the place with so many different illnesses and diseases, I don't know how he manages to speak authoritatively to any one in particular.

In the US, a huge part of the burden of research is left to the pharma industry. The problem with that is that the pharma industry needs the really basic research into the pathophysiology and etiology of Migraine before they'll ever be able to develop truly novel treatments for us. That's the kind of research that needs to come from the NIH. Approximately 12% of Americans have Migraine disease, yet less than 1/10th of 1% of the NIH budget goes into the research of Migraine and ALL other headache disorders.

Oops. OK. Stepping down from that soapbox now.

Teri

Teri,

If you don't mind, please post a link or further elaborate on the new findings of causes of a migraine. Most of the research I have read has not been updated to reflect the trigeminal nerve theory. I'd really be interested in learning more.

I will do further research on my own, but I find a lot of articles that you post are very easy to understand compared to the google searches that I find. I look up about 3/4's of the words of a sentence because the vocabulary is a little out of my reach!
Thanks

Yes please Teri. I have no head for some of the articles. No pun intended.

I couldn't open the article and didn't feel like registering.. but honestly I don't trust much of anything on his site. Seems a little too sensational and not research-based.

I havent registered Emily, and it is a trustworthy site.
Bit of confusion here I think. Mercola does tend to collate from others.

Not sensational I assure you, I wouldn't go there.
Its just another perspective is all.
It is interesting, but Teri has paraphrased quite a bit of it for us.

Gia and Pen,

I'm in the process of putting together an article on the pathophysiology of Migraine. It's taking me a while to get it written, largely because of what you said -- it's hard to understand journal articles and the like.

At conferences, I've attended sessions where all of this was discussed, and that's why I could address this a bit here. Some of the doctors who present and teach other doctors at these conferences are helping me get a better grip on all of the information so I can write it at a level we can all understand. Some of these issues are ones that I have the answrs in my head, but just can't get them into words. Hope that makes sense. It's just that they're so complex. I swear I need to take a good course in neuroanatomy!

Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have anything written yet, and I hope it prove worth the wait when I get it done.

Teri

Take your time Teri, I'm sure it will be well worth the wait.

Thank you for your dedication in the community. I really appreciate it.

lovegia wrote:Take your time Teri, I'm sure it will be well worth the wait.

Thank you for your dedication in the community. I really appreciate it.

I concur. Teri;thank you. Good to have you here.

Teri,

I noticed that you mentioned the Trigeminal Nerve as a possible cause of migraines. I have Bilateral Type II Trigeminal Neuralgia on all three branches and have wondered if there is a comorbity with migraines and TN. I've had migraines since I was 12 and have been chronic for the last 21 years, in all 37 years of migraines. I think my T Nerve just gave out after all that over stimulation.

Needless to say, when I get a migraine the TN pain escallates. It's horrible. I'm hoping that if there is link between the two, better medication choices might come about for TN. Any thoughts?

Thank you
Alli

Thanks, ladies!

Teri

pen wrote:

lovegia wrote:Take your time Teri, I'm sure it will be well worth the wait.

Thank you for your dedication in the community. I really appreciate it.

I concur. Teri;thank you. Good to have you here.

Alli,

Migraine and TN are freuqently comorbid, meaning that they occur at the same time without either causing the other.

Neuralgia and Migraine disease are very different pathophysiologically. I think it's quite possible for TN to trigger a Migraine attack, but not for it to cause the disease. Make sense?

Teri

alli wrote:Teri,

I noticed that you mentioned the Trigeminal Nerve as a possible cause of migraines. I have Bilateral Type II Trigeminal Neuralgia on all three branches and have wondered if there is a comorbity with migraines and TN. I've had migraines since I was 12 and have been chronic for the last 21 years, in all 37 years of migraines. I think my T Nerve just gave out after all that over stimulation.

Needless to say, when I get a migraine the TN pain escallates. It's horrible. I'm hoping that if there is link between the two, better medication choices might come about for TN. Any thoughts?

Thank you
Alli

oh yes. I have definitely noticed that when a TN attack goes on too long, it triggers a migraine. THis has been the pattern for years. It took getting the TN dx to realize the one of my biggest triggers has been TN attacks.

I just wish that my Dr's could figure out how to get me out of most of this pain. THe medication roulette wheel is getting old. But we all feel like that, don't we?

Thanks for your response.